Sharing Bread Matthew 3:11-12

SHARING BREAD

¹¹ "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

Matt 3:11-12 (NIV)

Humility, the most fragrant of all flowers in God’s garden of graces, is here demonstrated by the Baptist – the one sent as forerunner to the Lord Jesus.  Surely, nothing makes one more wooing, winsome and similar to the Savior than being genuinely humble.  Indeed, humility makes the great, greater – it is a virtue, not a weakness and it always leaves behind it the sweet aroma of Jesus our perfect example of lowliness of heart.  Did not our Lord - the King of Kings - strip off one robe of majesty and then another until He at last hung naked on a cross, pouring out His lifeblood and then placed penniless in a borrowed grave?  In our verses for today, John rightly exalts the dignity and supremacy of Christ above himself.   I am reminded of the Baptist’s response in John when asked by his disciples why Christ’s growing influence and movement was expanding and gaining momentum over his own:

²⁷ To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.' ²⁹ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. ³⁰ He must become greater; I must become less.”   John 3:27-30 (NIV)

 

“And if you don’t lie prostrate on the ground before that cross, you have never seen it:  if you are not humbled in the presence of Jesus, you don’t know Him.  You were so lost that nothing could save you but the sacrifice of God’s only begotten.  Think of that, and as Jesus lowered Himself for you, bow yourself in lowliness at His feet.  A sense of Christ’s amazing love to us has a greater tendency to humble us than even the conscious awareness of our own guilt……Pride cannot live beneath the cross.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

 

“Those whom God honors are made very humble and lowly in their own eyes; they are willing to be humbled as long as Christ may be everything.”  Matthew Henry

The Baptist fleshed out Paul’s words in Philippians prior to them even being written:

⁵ Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷ but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! ⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.   Phil 2:5-11 (NIV)

“Humility chooses to receive what is provided rather than take what is demanded.  Humility never pulls rank, never gloats in victory, never demands its rights.  Humility accepts responsibility for wrongdoing.”  Chuck Swindoll

“Pride alienates man from heaven; humility leads to heaven.”  Bridget of Sweden

² When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.   Prov 11:2 (NIV)

John came preparing the remnant for the Messiah and baptizing with water those who responded.  Yet, Jesus came baptizing with the Holy Spirit as with fire - fire which illuminates (gives us understanding), heats (burning hearts – passion) and consumes (makes the soul holy by ridding it of corruption).  Jesus speaks regarding the Holy Spirit in John:

¹² “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”   John 16:12-15 (NIV)

 

Lastly, John states the Lord Jesus in His Second Advent will one day winnow the wheat from the chaff – the saved from the unsaved – bringing into heaven’s “barn” those who are His and burning those remaining with unquenchable fire.  The Day of the Lord is prophesized in Malachi as well:

 

¹ "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. ² But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. ³ Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the LORD Almighty.   Mal 4:1-3 (NIV)

 

What I glean from this:

 

·       Pride brings me disgrace – humility, wisdom.

·       John came baptizing with water – Jesus with the Holy Spirit.

·       Jesus will one day separate the believers from those who willingly choose not to believe in Him.

 

 

   

 

    

Sharing Bread Matthew 3:7-10

SHARING BREAD

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

Matt 3:7-10 (NIV)

Tell us how you really feel John.  Seriously, the Baptist doesn’t seem too interested in winning any popularity contest!  He was not shy nor did he fear the scorn of the religious elite rather we discover him here boldly fulfilling his God given directives.  Without mincing words, in pristinely clear fashion, he exhorts and warns those who were tenaciously clinging to their lineage to Abraham as their automatic entrance into the Messiah’s kingdom.  Not going to happen says the Baptist.  The doctrine John came preaching was that of repentance not genealogy.  His message was plain and direct - pointedly addressed to the hearer’s consciences.  He did not begin with the titles and applause that their ears were so accustomed to hearing rather harsh words of conviction and awakening.  We see Jesus stating like Words to the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees later in Matthew:

 ³³ “You snakes! You brood of vipers!  How will you escape being condemned to hell?”  Matt 23:33 (NIV)

God - who takes no delight in the ruin of any man - fairly warns us that there is a wrath to come and it is of great concern for each one of us to flee from its impending doom.  These warnings often seem shocking to those who with hardened hearts wallow in self-confidence and false security.  Because we profess with our mouths and listen to proper teaching with our ears does not make us truly penitent.  The Word does us no good if we do not take it as spoken directly to us and belonging to us.  Repentance is rooted in the heart and the pretense of it is futile to say the least.  Scripture states if fruit does not naturally flow from its root we are not truly penitent.  We are foolish to lull ourselves to sleep or flatter ourselves with a false sense of security if we remain resistant to repentance – a continual turning from sin to Him.  It is not a one-time walk the isle type of thing – it is continual process.   God remains fully aware of what is in our hearts - what we say within ourselves – what we are dependent upon for our salvation.  We are not to let our deluded hearts mislead us.  The Prophet Isaiah tells us:

²⁰ He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, "Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?"   Isaiah 44:20 (NIV)

It is God’s desire for us to change.  He takes no delight in the death of His creation.  There are always blessings in our surrender to His will and ways.  God stated His heart through the pen of the Prophet Ezekiel:

²³ Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD.  Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?    Ezek 18:23 (NIV)

“From God’s perspective, one hidden act of repentance, one little gesture of selfless love, one moment of true forgiveness is all that is needed to bring God from His throne to run to His returning son and to fill the heavens with sounds of divine joy.”   Henri J. M. Nouwen

 

“The more willing you are to own up to your sin, the more willing God is to forgive you.  When you come clean, God will clean your record.  If you are willing to use your lips for confession, you will find your Father willing to use His lips to kiss you".   Paraphrased, Charles Spurgeon

 

Lastly, we discover the Baptist proclaiming the foolishness and groundlessness of the Pharisees and Sadducees putting all their eggs – so to speak - in the proverbial lineage basket.  We are duped and fall short if we are depending upon our relative’s relationship to God rather than our own.  What good does that do us?  John states God could raise up rocks as children of faith.  The ax, says the Baptist, is at the root of the tree – our time of sojourning is short (to say the least) and he warns us as well not to be marked for ruin but rather for restoration.  Every tree that does not naturally produce fruit from the Holy Spirit flowing within them in keeping with repentance will be hewn down and burned.  If one is not fit for fruit says John, they are only fit for fuel.    

“Once you realize all that it cost God to forgive you, you will be held as in a vise, constrained by the love of God.”  Oswald Chambers      

What I glean from this:

·       Repentance is a change of my heart the root of which produces fruit.

·       God takes no delight in the ruin of any man.

·       God remains ever willing to forgive me. 

 

Sharing Bread Matthew 3:1-6

SHARING BREAD

¹ In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea ² and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." ³ This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

"A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'"

⁴ John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

Matt 3:1-6 (NIV)

John the Baptist, the great “Ambassador” of the King of Kings, came preaching preparation for the people of Israel to receive their Messiah.  His message was one of repentance – a turning back from their point of departure – a turning back to God.  The people had thought wrongly and the Baptist called them to think again and to think aright.  A change of mind will always produce a change of ways.  Indeed, he was the voice of one calling in the dusty desert to prepare the way for the Lord.  His ministry even took place in the Desert of Judea – the barren and rugged land west of the Dead Sea.  What a vivid picture of the dry and fruitless condition of man’s soul apart from the “living water” of the Lord Jesus Christ Who stated:

³⁷ On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." ³⁹ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.   John 7:37-39 (NIV)

 

In our verses for today, Matthew skips about thirty years of our Lords life picking up with the ministry of the Baptist.  Interestingly, Scripture spoke glorious things regarding both Jesus and the Baptist at their births which would cause us to expect extraordinary appearances of God’s power and presence when they were young.  Yet God’s Word remains mostly silent on both of their growing up years – we have only been given the privilege of barely a glimpse.  This thrusts our focus rather to their end offices – not the workings up to the end.  It is amazing in Scripture how often God takes years before the “time fully comes” in the life of His chosen vessels remaining fairly silent and often attentions are strictly on their final offices.  There is preparation time in every life and though we may not readily perceive it, God is ever at work in the life of a believer.  Our God is a mysterious God - never fully comprehended or His plans fully disclosed.  The Prophet Isaiah tells us:

 

¹⁵ Truly you are a God who hides himself, O God and Savior of Israel.   Isaiah 45:15 (NIV)

 

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.  ⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)

 

“A religion without mystery must be a religion without God.”  Jeremy Taylor

Scripture tells us of the Baptist’s job description from above at his birth in Luke:

 

¹³ But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. ¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. ¹⁶ Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."   Luke 1:13-17 (NIV)

 

Lastly, we see John the Baptist not blending with the world (to say the least!).  He was great in the sight of the Lord yet lowly in the sight of man – just as Christ Himself.  John was a plain man denying this world and its showy delights.  He had to have been an oddity with his choice of clothing and food as well as his startling and awakening message.  He was focused on his office, his call from above and not on where he was merely sojourning.  We would do well to take note.

 

“Those whose business is to call others to mourn for sin and put it to death should themselves live a serious life, a life of self-denial.”    Matthew Henry

“That who answers God’s call loses nothing, but a life deaf to God’s call loses everything.”  Ann Voskamp

Generally speaking, the Jewish people of that day were extremely proud of their privileges and remained unaware of their sins.  John was sent to level their mountains of pride and opinions of themselves.  His teachings of pride and self-denial are unfortunately as necessary now as they were then.  It remains important for us to have a conviction of the inadequacy of our own righteousness.  The way of sin and Satan was and is a crooked path.  To prepare a way for Christ our paths must be made straight.  The writer of Hebrews tells us:

 

¹² Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. ¹³ "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.   Heb 12:12-13 (NIV)

     

What I glean from this:

 

·       A change of mind will produce a change of ways.

·       God’s ways are vastly higher than my ways and His thoughts than my thoughts.

·        I am to have a conviction of the inadequacy of my own righteousness.

Sharing Bread Matthew 2:19-23

SHARING BREAD

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead."

²¹ So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, ²³ and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

Matt 2:19-23 (NIV)

Bit by bit the story continues to unfold for Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus.  Certainly God - Who makes known the end from the beginning - could have given Joseph all of His instructions at once yet, as He most often chooses to do, He here makes His way known gradually – revealing His mind and way in increments – one piece of the puzzle at a time.  He does this in order for us to be reminded of His faithfulness in leading and also teaching us to continue to listen for His still small voice - waiting upon His instructions – trusting in His ways as best for our lives.  Moses, who continually depended upon the Lord’s leading, stated the following words in Exodus:

¹³ "In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.    Ex 15:13 (NIV)

 

Our prayers should ever be as King David’s who prayed:

 

¹¹ Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. Psalms 27:11 (NIV)

In all our moves it is good to see God going before us.  Waiting upon His leading teaches us a myriad of things not the least of which is patience and obedience.  It never comes easy to wait - it is far easier to take matters in our own hands and run ahead.  Big mistake – we get ourselves in much trouble when we pursue the devices of our own fleshly imaginations.  His ways are always the highest and most beneficial for us.  We would do well to remember our God is a “with-us” God – He is with us at all times.  He never leaves us alone to face the heartaches and hurts, the frustrations and failures, the confusions and chaos of this dark world.  He is One Who delights in our relationship with Him.  His works are perfect and He remains ever faithful.  

⁴ He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just.  A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.   Deut 32:4 (NIV)

 

“God is good at being faithful!”   James Bruce Evans

²¹ Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: ²² Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. ²³ They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ²⁴ I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."   Lam 3:21-24 (NIV)

God sent Joseph and his young family into Egypt and now God was bringing them out.  We can be sure there is always purpose in His plans and leading even when we cannot readily discern them.  I find it encouraging that though Joseph was not told everything upfront he willing acquiesced to the Lord’s directions – over and over again setting forth for us a wonderful example of hearing and heeding.  King David remained confident of the Lord’s leading him victoriously – we would do well to be likeminded:

¹³ I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
¹⁴ Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.   Psalms 27:13-14 (NIV)

 

“We should follow Christ in simplicity and faith, because the paths in which He leads us all end in glory and immortality.  It is true they may not be smooth paths – they may be covered with sharp flinty trials, but they lead to the ‘city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.’  ‘All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of His covenant.’  Let’s put full trust in our Leader, since we know that, come prosperity or adversity, sickness or health, popularity or contempt, His purpose shall be worked out, and that purpose shall be pure, unmingled good to every heir of mercy…..His dear love will make us far more blessed than those who sit at home and warm their hands at the world’s fire.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

 

What I glean from this:

 

·       I am to listen and follow God’s still small voice.

·       God’s works are perfect and all His ways are just.

·       His purposes are “pure unmingled good to every heir of mercy” (Spurgeon).

 

 

   

Sharing Bread Matthew 2:13-18

SHARING BREAD

¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt.  Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."

¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod.  And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

¹⁶ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷ Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

¹⁸ "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."

Matt 2:13-18 (NIV)

It’s not too difficult to discern why Joseph was rightfully picked to be the earthly “father” of our Lord Jesus – obedience.  In the second of his four dreams, Joseph was told to get up and flee to Egypt – the Christ child’s life was at risk.  Joseph was neither aware about the danger nor how to avert it yet God directs him in precisely what to do.  God even supplied the means by way of the gifts of the Magi.  Everything was covered – the safest place to be is the center of God’s will.  Nothing ever takes God by surprise.  He is acquainted with all the cruel projects and purposes of His enemies and He here warns Joseph through His angelic messenger of such.  To Joseph’s credit, when the angel of the Lord speaks to him in dreams, we discover him moving and moving quickly. Flesh often stupidly and foolishly rebels against obedience – ignoring, delaying, questioning, dismissing or fleeing from God’s best for our lives.  Seriously, when are we ever going to learn that God always has our best interest at heart?  It is not the easiest way for certain but it is the best way.  It always boils down to trust.  I am reminded of God’s Words penned by the Prophet Jeremiah:

²¹ “‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! ²² For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, ²³ but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. ²⁴ But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.’”   Jer 7:21-24 (NIV)

“God is God.  Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience.  I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to.”   Elisabeth Elliot

“In our walk with God we are told explicitly by Christ Himself that it would be His Spirit who would be sent to guide us and to lead us into all truth (John 16:13).  This same gracious Spirit takes the truth of God, the Word of God, and makes it plain to our hearts and minds and spiritual understanding.  It is He who gently, tenderly, but persistently says to us, ‘This is the way – walk in it.’  And as we comply and cooperate with His gentle promptings a sense of safety, comfort and well-being envelops us.”   Phillip Keller

The journey for Joseph and his young family to Egypt would be both inconvenient and perilous yet Joseph remained steadfast to the heavenly vision he had received.  He made no objection nor did he dawdle but immediately got up and set out during the night making quick work of obedience.  But why would God have them sojourn in Egypt?  It was a place notorious for idolatry, tyranny and enmity towards God’s people.  The Messiah would be sent to and return from Egypt to both fulfill Scripture (Hosea 11:1) and identify with the nation of Israel who also descended into Egypt to escape the dangerous conditions drought had caused and eventually miraculously departed.     Christ spoke later in Matthew on fleeing from the danger of persecution and in our verses for today it is fleshed out aided by His parents:

²³ When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.   Matt 10:22-23 (NIV)

 

“Self-preservation, being a branch of the law of nature, is eminently a part of the law of God.”   Matthew Henry

 

Lastly, we see the horror fleshed out by one filled with the influences of Satan and self.  King Herod was a despicable man infamous for dastardly deeds.  It was reported that Emperor Augustus stated it was better to be Herod’s sow than his son, for his sow had a better chance of survival in a Jewish community.  He put to death several of his own children and some of his wives who plotted against him.  It is amazing that he could find others so inhuman to carry out his barbarous works.  Wicked hands seem to be able to find wicked tools to work with.  His actions were purely to gratify his brutish prideful lusts and cruelty – furious that he was outwitted by the Magi. At the time he was around seventy years old and therefore any infant under two was rather unlikely to give him any disturbance.  It is amazing how low humans can stoop.

    

“Holiness is not a feeling – it is the end product of obedience.  Purity is not a gift – it is the result of repentance and serious pursuit of God.”  Frances J. Roberts

 

What I glean from this:

 

·       I am called to be faithfully obedient.

·       As a believer, the Spirit will tenderly and gently lead me.

·       “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.”  (Jeremiah 17:9A)   I am to continually ask God to search my heart - pointing and purging out wickedness to purify.